


Unintended

by triste



Category: D.Gray-man
Genre: Fluff and Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-11-21
Updated: 2012-11-21
Packaged: 2017-11-19 05:00:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,233
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/569383
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/triste/pseuds/triste
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Komui's solutions to problems are far from conventional.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Unintended

Title: Unintended (1/2)  
Author: Triste  
Fandom: D.Gray-man  
Pairing: Kanda/Allen  
Rating: PG-13  
Warnings: Shounen ai, angst, humour, lime  
Status: Complete  
Disclaimer: Not mine

 

Contrary to popular belief, Komui took his job as head supervisor very seriously. It was his duty to guide the people working under him as well as listen to their complaints, of which had been many over the past week. They hadn't been about Komui's lack of motivation for paperwork or even his collection of Komurins. They had been about Kanda Yuu and Allen Walker.

The first complaint had been from Lavi. Never afraid to speak his mind, he'd barged straight into Komui's office without bothering to knock first. It was rare indeed to see the usually easygoing Bookman in training so annoyed, but having to accompany Allen and Kanda on a mission could make even the most mild-mannered person turn homicidal or suicidal depending on their temperament.

"Komui, I've had enough!" exclaimed Lavi, throwing his up his hands in defeat. "I can't work with those two anymore! They're constantly at each other's throats, not to mention they're more interested in beating the crap out of each other than any akuma. You have to do something before I go insane!"

Komui nodded sympathetically, only half-listening because he had the entire science department noisily queuing up by his desk with reports for him to read through and sign. He promised Lavi he'd take care of the problem and then promptly forgot about him the second he left the room.

The second complaint had come from Rinali. As always with his beloved little sister, Komui dropped whatever he was doing as soon as she appeared, ready to fawn over her, but, like Lavi, Rinali had been uncharacteristically irritated.

"Nii-san, you really need to sort out Allen-kun and Kanda's behaviour," she told him. "They're a danger to themselves and the people around them! They keep hospitalising each other because they can't stand being together! If you won't stop pairing them up, you should start punishing them for causing so much trouble! Don't you remember the last expense report they submitted? It wasn't so much the medical costs but the fact that we had to pay to repair an entire town they'd both destroyed!"

Komui wasn't concentrating on Rinali's words so much as her expression, which only made her angrier when he pointed out that a face as pretty as hers wasn't meant for scowling. He didn't understand why Rinali was more interested in worrying about Allen and Kanda killing each other rather than wanting to spend time with him, but he swore he would talk to them if it would make her life better.

Before Komui found the chance to do that, however, the third complaint arrived, this time from Krory. He limped into Komui's office bearing an uncanny resemblance to a mummy on crutches, and he was ever so polite as he explained his current situation.

"I don't wish to be rude," he said, "but I humbly request that you refrain from sending me on any future missions with Allen and Kanda. As you can see, I paid a rather hefty price for trying to break up an argument between them. Although I care for them both deeply as comrades in arms, honestly speaking, I would rather leave this organisation than work with those two again."

Komui sighed and assured Krory he would never team him up with the infamous bad luck pair again. Exorcists were growing increasingly rare, and the Black Order wouldn't allow any more losses where accommodators of Innocence were concerned. Komui had to keep Krory happy if he wanted him to stay, and the former count seemed extremely relieved when Komui announced that he would make good on his word by resolving the issue with Kanda and Allen.

The fourth and final complaint arrived in the form of a very nervous Miranda, who accidentally knocked over a book case, tripped up over her own two feet and broke Komui's precious bunny mug before she'd even reached his desk. Apologising repeatedly for her incompetence, she finally managed to stutter out her reason for appearing uninvited.

"I'm terribly sorry," she said meekly, clasping her hands and looking like she was struggling not to wring them out of anxiousness, "but I feel as if I ought to mention the... how can I put this... inability to cooperate in regard to Allen and Kanda? I worry about their poor relationship, and the fact that they can be... well... *dangerous* when they're together. And frightening. Very frightening. I sometimes feel as if I'm back inside that rewinding town whenever I listen to those two bickering about the same things over and over again. It's terribly depressing, you know. It's enough to make a person want to climb the tallest tower and throw themselves off it, oh ho ho..."

Komui shuddered as Miranda chuckled with the air of a woman who had long since lost touch with reality, but he steeled himself enough to ignore the gloomy and sinister atmosphere that had settled over the office like an oppressive thunder cloud and stared Miranda right in the eye. This time for sure, he would enforce the discipline Allen and Kanda sorely needed, and he put on his most serious and disapproving expression when he summoned them into the room.

Predictably, Kanda took on end of the couch and Allen took the other, sitting as far away from each other as was possible considering the couch was only big enough to seat two people. They pointedly ignored each other's existence as Komui cleared his throat loudly and prepared himself for their reaction to his announcement.

"I'll get straight to the point," he said, threading his fingers together and resting his chin on top of them. "As a result of receiving so many complaints, I've come to the conclusion that there is only one way to fix your attitudes towards each other. For one month, you will have to live together and work together, alone, with no outside assistance, on a deserted island far away from civilisation. Think of it as a team-building exercise, if you will."

Unsurprisingly, Kanda was the first to speak, and he was just as blunt as ever as he snapped out, "I refuse," but Komui frowned at him in warning before Kanda could get up and leave.

"You can't refuse," he said evenly. "This is an assignment from your commanding officer. Any attempt at turning it down will only earn you punishment from the grand generals. After hearing that, do you still plan on rebelling?"

Kanda looked furious, knowing full well what the repercussions of his actions would be, while Allen gazed at Komui mournfully.

"Do we *really* have to do this?" he pleaded. "I don't mind the assignment as such, but could I not go with somebody other than Kanda?"

"You will go together and you will return together," Komui replied firmly. "A finder will take you there by boat and pick you up again when your thirty-one days are up, but other than that, the only people you'll be able to rely on will be yourselves." He took out a map and spread it out over the top of his desk and pointed out the location as he added, "This is Lake Biscow. In the centre of it lies Rockley Island. As I mentioned earlier, it's completely cut off from any human settlement. You can swim to the nearest city if you like, but you'd probably die before you reached it from hunger, dehydration, sunstroke or any of the poisonous and other such dangerous creatures that inhabit the water. To put it simply, you have no choice but to survive the entire month on that island."

"Alone?" Allen said weakly, looking and sounding ill at the mere thought. "Just the two of us?"

"Right," said Komui. "Just the two of you."

Allen glared at Kanda. Kanda glared back. "This is all your fault," they growled in unison and Komui smiled sweetly at them.

"I'll see you again in one month. Until then, have fun~!"

~~

As Komui had said, a finder turned up the next morning to guide Allen and Kanda to their destination. Kanda, never one to make small talk, sat in his own sullen spot as his body practically radiated 'stay away or I'll kill you' vibes. Allen wasn't faring much better. He tended to enjoy chattering pleasantly with whichever finder was assisting him, but he was lost in his own thoughts as they rode the ship out of England. Komui had allowed him to take Timcampi along; probably more for its recording ability than to give Allen company that wasn't Kanda. He'd also allowed Kanda to take Mugen, but that was all he'd given permission for. He'd done the packing for them and had handed a single suitcase to their finder, forbidding Allen and Kanda to open it until they'd reached the island.

Allen didn't have to look inside the suitcase to know that whatever contents it held could only help him get so far. Spending an entire month on a deserted island meant that he would have to learn how to become self-sufficient. He had no idea whether or not Kanda had any kind of survival skills, but although Allen himself had been frequently abandoned without any prior notice while he'd trained under Cross Marian, it had never been in the wilderness. Cross liked his comforts and his luxury, which was why he never strayed too far from human dwelling. Wine didn't flow freely from rivers and cooked meals didn't hang conveniently from trees, meaning that Cross loathed any place that didn't supply them both almost as much as he loathed the Black Order headquarters.

Sighing to himself, Allen wondered how, exactly, he was supposed to last the month. Being stuck with Kanda for so long would be bad enough, but having to live without all the things he'd grown accustomed to since becoming an exorcist, such as a place to call home, a nice soft bed and being able to eat Jerry's fabulous cooking whenever he wanted was even worse.

Depressed, Allen hardly paid attention to his surroundings. Even when their rowing boat had been readied, Kanda sat at one end, Allen the other, and their finder in between. Allen then remembered what Komui had informed him about the island being so remote and guiltily offered to help the finder row. The finder, either relieved by having been spoken to at last or just by the fact that the earlier tension seemed to have broken somewhat, accepted.

While Allen wasn't in the habit of carrying a watch around with him, he found himself wishing for one when his arms began to ache from all the rowing he'd done. The only clue he had as to how much time had passed since they'd set off from the shore was the sun. It had been high in the sky when he'd first stepped into the boat, and the heat combined with the hard effort of rowing, had made him sweat even in his thin white shirt, but the longer they rowed, the lower and weaker the sun became.

Feeling sorry for the finder, who Allen knew must be tired in spite of him never having complained, he tried to get Kanda to switch places. Kanda just grunted and kept his eyes fixed stonily ahead. His refusal to help was troublesome, but the finder, apparently having been briefed by Komui beforehand as to how Allen and Kanda acted around each other, hastily claimed that he was fine to keep rowing and that Kanda should save his strength for the upcoming ordeal.

They stopped to rest by nightfall, although the finder insisted on staying awake so Allen and Kanda could sleep. He shared rations with them from his own bag, which weren't nearly enough to fill Allen's stomach, and it continued to grumble long after he'd eaten.

Allen wasn't sure what to feel when the island finally came into view. He helped pull the boat to shore before jumping out and taking a quick inventory. Beyond the shore was a forest. What existed in that forest Allen had no idea, but he supposed he would spend the next thirty-one days finding out.

"Your belongings," the finder said politely, giving Allen the suitcase. "Use them wisely. As per the supervisor's instructions, I will come back here in exactly one month's time. Please stay safe."

Allen watched bleakly as the finder departed, then started when he heard the sound of Kanda's voice.

"Don't just stand there," Kanda ordered. "Open it."

Allen set the suitcase down on the ground, knelt before it and snapped it open. "It looks like we have a change of clothing each," he said. "There's a first aid kit, too. That'll come in useful. We have two knives, two pots, two spoons, a fishing rod, two books, Wuthering Heights and Little Women -" Kanda snorted derisively "- rope, a pack of cards and a sewing kit. That's it." Allen blinked. "Wait, there's no food in here."

"Obviously," said Kanda. "We're meant to catch it ourselves, idiot."

"Catch it?" Allen repeated, a sinking feeling in his chest as he checked the suitcase once more in case he'd missed any items, but found nothing extra.

"Look around you," Kanda told him. "We're surrounded be fresh water, so we won't have any trouble finding something to drink. Believe it or not, we have everything we need to get by."

"Right..." Allen said faintly. "Have you done this before? Survival, I mean."

Kanda didn't answer. He just took the rope and one of the knives, turned on his heel and began striding towards the forest, leaving Allen to stare blankly after him until he disappeared from sight. Complaining to himself about Kanda's eternal disregard for cooperation, Allen snapped the suitcase suit and cast a final glance at the seemingly endless expanse of water surrounding the island before making his own way into the densely wooded area.

Allen was no expert when it came to surviving in the wild, but even he knew enough to realise the task that came first and foremost would be to find shelter. The weather was fine right now, but there was no telling how it might change over the next few days. The months Allen had spent in countries like India and Africa had taught him that places hot by day were often cold by night, and he had no intention of sleeping out in the open if he could help it.

It was by sheer luck that Allen happened to stumble across a decent-sized cave. It was easily large enough for him to share with Kanda, not that he liked the idea, but Allen was more pleased by his find than disgruntled by the prospect of having to live alongside Kanda in such close quarters.

Setting the suitcase down, Allen sent Timcampi out to search for Kanda while he set about his second task of making the cave more inhabitable. The trees by the entrance provided Allen with a good supply of firewood (not that he knew *how* to make a fire without the use of matches) and also large leaves and fronds with which to make the stone floor easier to sleep on.

It took around forty minutes for Timcampi to turn up again. The golem tugged at Allen's shirtsleeve to get him up and out of the cave before leading him off to where Kanda was. Kanda wasn't alone when Allen found him. Allen was surprised to see that Kanda had already succeeded in making his first catch, although he couldn't help feeling sorry at the sight of the rabbit Kanda had trapped struggling futilely to break free from its bonds.

"I found a cave," said Allen. "It's big enough for both of us. I know you don't care for working with others, but Komui-san *did* give us this assignment as a team building experience. It's going to be a tough month. Wouldn't it be better if we helped each other get through it?"

"I don't need you holding me back," scoffed Kanda.

"Can't we at least *try* to share the burden?" asked Allen. "Dividing up the tasks would make both our lives easier."

He'd expected Kanda to decline outright, so he was taken aback when Kanda actually appeared to be considering his proposal.

"All right," said Kanda, his expression perfectly bland as he tossed his knife to Allen and gestured towards the rabbit. "You can start by making dinner. Go on. Kill it. Unless you plan on eating it alive, that is."

As if sensing its imminent demise, the rabbit began squealing shrilly and struggled even harder. Those pitiful noises made Allen's throat tighten painfully, and he swallowed hard. In his head, he knew that humans lived by eating things that came beneath them on the food chain, namely creatures of lesser intelligence such as the rabbit before him. In his heart, the thought of having to take the life of another living creature just to prolong his own existence filled him with revulsion. Maybe it was hypocritical and petty, but Allen couldn't bring himself to kill the kind of thing he never would have given a second thought at eating at the dinner table.

"I can't do it," he murmured in defeat. "I can't kill it."

Apparently he'd just proven something to Kanda by the way that he smirked in disgust, and Allen winced when Kanda brought the rabbit's squealing to an abrupt end when he cleanly snapped its neck.

"Pathetic," he stated, taking the knife back and slipping it into his pocket. "You're a weak-willed fool who can't even perform the simplest of chores. You want to help others when you can't do anything for yourself? Don't make me laugh. Just stay out of my way."

Allen could only follow miserably along as Timcampi led Kanda to their camp, sitting by the entrance of the cave and watching Kanda as he worked. Kanda kept his back to Allen, but he didn't tell him to go away. Partly because he couldn't resist his morbid curiosity and also because he had nothing better to do, Allen kept his eyes on Kanda as he skinned the rabbit as neatly as he'd broken its neck.

It seemed so sickeningly simple, but Allen still couldn't contemplate doing the same thing for himself. He also couldn't contemplate lasting the month if he didn't learn how to adapt. At least sticking with Kanda ensured that he would learn a few new skills, although whether or not he'd end up putting them into practise, Allen had no idea.

In any case, Kanda had given him a few important clues on the most basic of techniques, which was the one he'd pondered on earlier when he'd gathered up wood for a fire. Again, Kanda made it look so easy by splitting the same branch and using one half as a saw-type tool to make heat and the other to conduct it and ignite into flame.

When Allen could ignore the rumbling of his stomach no more, he left Kanda in search of his own food. Timcampi flew off ahead, causing Allen's spirits to sink even lower, but he did take note of the golem's excitement when it eventually returned to him.

"What is it?" asked Allen as Timcampi fluttered in front of his face impatiently. "Did you find something?"

Timcampi certainly had, and the first trickle of hope Allen had felt since arriving at the island made him smile in delight when he spotted the golem hovering by a large berry bush.

"Good job, Tim!" he exclaimed, and the golem happily flew a couple of loops at Allen's praise. "It might not be Jerry-san's cooking, but at least now I won't starve."

Allen took off his waistcoat and used it as a pouch as he picked off berries one by one. With Timcampi's help, he soon had a relatively large collection of them, and he set his waistcoat carefully on the ground like a picnic blanket with a "time to eat!" before tucking in. They were smaller than strawberries but bigger than blackberries and also not nearly as sweet, but Allen wasn't about to turn his nose up.

It was a combination of hunger and naivety that eventually led Allen to his downfall. He'd neither washed the berries nor tested them first to see if they were even safe to eat, and it took only three or four mouthfuls before his stomach decided to reject them.

It took over an hour for Allen to feel well enough to get up and start moving around again, and he managed a smile as Timcampi patted him on the cheek with its tiny hands in apology.

"It's okay," he said, getting to his feet. "You're not to blame. You didn't know they would make me sick. I'll just have to remember not to eat them again in the future, that's all. Don't worry. I'll find something else. I'm not going to die and I'm definitely not going to lose to Kanda."

Encouraged, Timcampi flew off again, although Allen was considerably more cautious the next time the golem showed him something.

"Fruit again, eh?" he mused, shielding his gaze from the sun so he could stare up at where they grew at the top of the tree Timcampi had brought him to. "They look a little like oranges, but that doesn't mean they're guaranteed to taste good..."

In any case, he wasn't about to give up. Allen was grateful for the fact that Cross had made him work as a chimney sweep in the past as he scaled the tree with ease. Having Cross force him into a tiny chute by prodding him up the backside with a poker whenever he'd tried to cry his way out of the job had at least given him some experience at climbing.

Shaking off the troubled memories of Cross setting his shorts on fire as a method of getting him up chimneys faster, Allen heaved a sigh of satisfaction when he reached the top of the tree only to suck his breath straight back into his lungs with horror when he came face to face with a bee's nest. It was either divine intervention or a cruel twist of fate that stopped him getting stung by the defensive insects by causing him to lose his grip, and although Allen didn't break any bones on the fall down, he didn't exactly escape unscathed, as the cuts and bruises on his body testified.

Timcampi wasn't ready to call it quits just yet, however, and the golem made one last attempt at helping Allen find a meal by head butting a free-flying bird with all its might and stunning it into dropping to the ground like a stone. Unfortunately for Allen, the bird was still alive. He couldn't bring himself to kill it even in its unconscious state, so he put in a place he hoped would be safe from any other predators and left it.

"I think that's enough food hunting for one day," he sighed to Timcampi as he shuffled wearily back to base. "I just want to sleep. Maybe I'll have more success tomorrow with fishing."

~~

The next morning, Allen was beginning to think that the bad luck boy nickname Lavi had given him was all too appropriate. He'd woken up to find himself alone, which suited him just fine. He had no idea where Kanda could have gone, but it was better than having him around to scorn and make fun.

Relieved to see that Kanda hadn't taken the rod, Allen carried it to the shore, finding bait easily enough and picking out a random spot to sit at where he cast his line into the water.

Allen was patient. He'd never caught any fish before, but he'd heard it was something that required a lot of waiting, so that was what he did.

He waited until the sun was at its hottest, at a time he guessed to be around midday or just after. He waited until the sun was at its lowest, at a time he guessed to be around mid to late afternoon. He even waited until the sun had sunk right out of sight and the only light in the sky came from the thin crescent moon.

Allen's first foray into fishing ended in complete and utter failure.

~~

By the fifth day, Allen's desperation had transformed itself into a growing sense of resentment. He resented himself for not being able to find a decent meal. He resented Komui for sending him on this pointless assignment. Most of all, he resented Kanda for the ease in which he'd adapted to his new environment, but also just because Kanda happened to be *there*. Allen was getting sick of seeing that familiar smirk. It was like he'd become Kanda's own personal brand of twisted entertainment, like Kanda was enjoying seeing him struggle, but Allen refused to give up.

Even so, it was difficult for Allen to stay positive. He'd started taking his temper out on Timcampi, which he would have been guilty for at any other time, but he was so irritated and on edge that he couldn't help himself. It also didn't help that the sky had been heavy and downcast since he'd woken up. That, and the way the birds on the island had gone into hiding, could only mean there was a bad storm due.

The rain came pouring down when the day drew to a close, and the rolling of thunder soon followed. Allen sat with his knees drawn up to his chest not even reacting whenever a flash of lightning illuminated the sky. Kanda was equally disinterested although Timcampi had long since hidden itself inside the suitcase at the first sign of the storm, leaving Allen feeling all the more bored and lonely.

Sighing, he wondered how Lavi and the others were doing back at headquarters. There was no way for them to keep in touch, so he didn’t know what might be happening with them. Had Komui sent them out on missions recently? Had anyone gotten themselves hurt?

Allen tried not to think too much about that, but thinking was the only thing he could do right now. It was starting to drive him crazy. The constant, repetitive drumming sound of the rain bouncing off the roof of the cave was starting to drive him crazy. The tension and frustration kept on building and building, but by the seventh time Allen heaved out a sigh, he wasn't the only one who'd had enough.

"Stop sighing," barked Kanda. "It's getting on my nerves."

It was Allen's turn to smirk for once as he deliberately sighed again in spite of Kanda's warning, and Kanda narrowed his eyes dangerously.

"I told you to *stop*, dead weight pain in the ass," he snapped, but Allen only stared back at him innocently.

"I'm not harming anything," he said.

"You're harming my ears," Kanda informed him, "not to mention offending my eyes."

"I never told you to look at or listen to me," Allen replied mildly.

"Being stuck in this god forsaken crappy weather, I have no choice but to do both," seethed Kanda. "Why the hell do I have to be here anyway?"

"Because Komui-san said so," Allen reminded. "And because this is your fault."

"My fault?" echoed Kanda, raising his eyebrows. "Why is it *my* fault?"

"Because you have an attitude problem, which makes you so difficult to get along with, and that makes me want to punch you sometimes," Allen said sweetly. "No wonder you don't have any friends."

"I don't need friends," said Kanda in disdain. "Friends are for weak people like you who keep them around to make themselves feel stronger. Friends hold you back. Friends drag you down. Friends get in the god damned way. They're completely unnecessary."

"You're wrong," argued Allen. "Friends are precious and irreplaceable. They're something to be treasured and cared for."

"If you want to treasure and care for something, get a pet," sneered Kanda. "There are plenty of wild animals roaming around. You obviously can't catch or kill any, but at least you can play with them like the child that you are."

"I don't want to kill any of them!" Allen insisted.

"Why?" Kanda asked. "Because they're your *friends*?"

"No but -"

"Then why? You've eaten meat before. You obviously know where it comes from. Why is it so damn difficult for you to put away your airs and graces and start living in the real world? Why can you take out countless akuma and not the life of a single rabbit?"

Allen shook his head miserably. "I don't want to kill anything! Is that really so wrong?"

"It's kill or be killed, bean sprout," said Kanda. "That's how the world works. Every living creature on this planet survives by eating other creatures. It's normal. It's natural. It's been happening for millions of years. Why do you have such a problem with it?"

"Because it's just too sad," stated Allen. "Because I'm an exorcist and I can't escape this endless pattern of death and destruction. Because life is precious just like friends are."

"Life is a useless struggle until you die," Kanda said flatly. "That's reality for you. Get used to it."

No matter what, it seemed the two of them couldn't agree on anything. Allen accepted the fact that he could be naive and unrealistic at times, but he couldn't accept Kanda's disrespect for human beings and life in general. He couldn't accept that jeering cynicism or Kanda putting himself above all others. What reason did he have for fighting if he didn't have anyone to share his dreams and fears with, assuming he even had any? What was the point in living if he had nobody to share that life with?

"You're wrong," Allen said again, more vehemently this time. "Life is not a useless struggle. No matter how bad things might seem, there's always hope."

"Is that how you intend to last the month we're supposed to spend here?" mocked Kanda. "You're planning to live on hope instead of food? Sorry to disappoint you, but God doesn't save anyone. The only person who can save you is yourself."

"Stop talking like that!" said Allen, the volume of his voice rising along with the surge of his emotions. "We're exorcists, aren't we? It's our duty to protect the living and bring salvation to the dead!"

"It's our duty to find the Innocence before the Earl and his followers do," Kanda contradicted. "Whoever lives or dies in the process isn't my concern."

"You're cold!"

"Well you're stupid."

"You're too harsh!"

"And you're too soft. Deal with it."

"You can't always let your head rule over your heart! Don't you have *any* compassion?"

"Compassion only gets you killed. Save your concern for yourself instead of wasting it on others."

Allen clenched his fists in anger. The conversation, if he could even call it that, was going nowhere, but instead of trying to understand Kanda, a mission that seemed impossible in and of itself, he stuck stubbornly to his own beliefs. Even if he was being narrow-minded, it still didn't make him nearly as bad as Kanda.

"Anyway, you started this," Allen accused, crossing his arms over his chest. "If we'd met under normal circumstances I might not have such a poor opinion of you, but you had to attack me for no reason whatsoever!"

"I attacked you because the gatekeeper said you were an intruder," Kanda told him coolly. "I believed it."

"If it had said I was a cheap hooker coming to offer my services, would you have believed that too?" fumed Allen.

"You're the only student of General Cross," said Kanda cruelly. "After hearing about some of the things he made you do for money, then yes, I would."

"Get out!" Allen yelled, finally at the end of his tether. "I can't stand you anymore! Just *go*! I don't care where, as long as you're out of my sight! *Leave*!"

"With pleasure," hissed Kanda, grabbing Mugen and getting to his feet. "Coincidentally, I can't stand you, either. Good bye and good riddance."

He walked into the storm and never looked back.

Allen, too high-strung to enjoy his newfound solitude, paced the length of the cave until he'd cooled down enough to sit and think about what he'd just done. The longer he dwelled on it the more he began to feel guilty, but he pushed the emotion to the back of his mind and the thought of Kanda along with it.

Outside, the storm raged on. The thunder and lightning had stopped some time ago, although the rain refused to let up. Allen wondered if Kanda had managed to find shelter before quickly derailing that train of thought and opening up the suitcase instead. Timcampi was still huddled inside, and it snapped at Allen's fingers at the disturbance when he took out the pack of cards, but Allen left the golem to its brooding as he attempted to distract himself by playing patience.

Several games later, and Kanda was starting to creep back into his thoughts. Allen didn't know how much time had passed since he'd sent Kanda away, but he still refused to feel worried. After all, hadn't Kanda been the one to tell him to save that worry for himself instead of 'wasting' it, as he had so eloquently put it?

"Who cares about Kanda?" Allen muttered, as if talking aloud would help him convince himself. "He's Mr Perfect, Mr I Can Do Anything, Mr I Don't Need Anyone. He'll be just fine on his own. I'm sure he's happier this way."

But Timcampi didn't seem to think so. It had emerged from its hiding place after Allen's fourth game and was now hovering by the edge of the cave and staring into space the same way it did whenever it was detecting something. Allen ignored it.

Time continued to pass by before Timcampi apparently had enough. It flew into the side of Allen's head twice, gnawed on his ear and then yanked at his ribbon tie, refusing to let Allen swat it away.

"What's gotten into you?" said Allen when Timcampi gave him another head butt. "I'm telling you, Kanda is fine." Timcampi wouldn't stop trying to drag him outside though, and Allen stood up in annoyance. "Will you stop pestering me if I go after him?" Timcampi flapped its wings and Allen sighed. "All right. Let's find him and kick him for putting us through all this trouble."

Stepping outside, Allen managed to grab onto Timcampi tight before the fierce winds could blow it away. He tucked the little golem away safely under his shirt, not keen at all at the idea of having to stumble around alone without Timcampi being able to guide him, but having no other choice. The rain lashed into him and soaked him to the skin, but Allen pressed on. Visibility was poor, and he tripped and fell more than once even though he wasn't walking all that quickly. Wet, muddy and cold, Allen wished more than anything for the warmth of the cave he'd departed, but he continued the search, shouting for Kanda at regular intervals only to have his voice blown away just as easily as Timcampi had been.

When Allen eventually found Kanda it was completely by accident. He'd tripped and fallen once again, but it had been over a human leg this time, a human leg that just so happened to be attached to the body of Kanda Yuu. Allen gasped in shock and quickly scrambled to Kanda's side, patting his face when he saw he was unconscious.

"Kanda!" he called, shaking him more firmly. "Kanda, wake up!"

The first thought that came to Allen's mind was that Kanda must have been attacked by something, but Komui had assured him that there were no akuma on or around the island. There was the possibility that one could have been attracted by the presence of an exorcist and their Innocence, but Allen found no evidence of combat. Mugen was still sheathed and Allen couldn't feel any injuries when he patted his palms across Kanda's torso.

In any case, he wouldn't be able to do a proper investigation and help Kanda until he got him to shelter. Heaving Kanda over one shoulder and Mugen over the other, Allen trudged back the way he'd came, praying silently that his terrible sense of direction wouldn't get him lost while Kanda was in need of medical attention. Even so, the journey to the cave was a long one, and Allen was relieved when it finally came into view.

Once inside he carefully set Kanda down, unfastening his drenched shirt and peeling it away from his body. Kanda groaned and shivered, but he didn't open his eyes. Out of the rain and using the rays of the pale moonlight, Allen leaned in and checked Kanda's front and back thoroughly, finding no clue as to how he could have collapsed so suddenly. It was only when he got Kanda's pants off that he found a wound on his right ankle. It looked like he'd been bitten or stung by something, which didn't really surprise Allen. He'd spotted venomous snakes and other such reptiles on the island before, but now that he'd found the case of Kanda's illness, there wasn't much he could do to treat it.

Allen forced himself to stay calm and not panic as he left Kanda briefly in order to check the first aid kit, but found nothing particularly of use. Even if there had been any antibiotics or steroids, they probably wouldn't have done Kanda much good when Allen didn't know for sure what kind of poison, if any, was in his bloodstream.

"What should I do?" he wailed to Timcampi, but a tiny bead of sweat ran down the side of Timcampi's head in a 'don't ask me' manner, and Allen took a couple of deep breaths to clear his mind.

First of all, he had to get Kanda warmed up. It took Allen a few attempts to get a fire started, but at least he'd had the common sense to go searching for wood earlier in the day before the storm had broken and stowing it inside the cave where it was dry. With that done, Allen hung up Kanda's wet clothing and stripped off his own wet garments until he was only down to his shorts, taking the spares from the suitcase and getting Kanda into them. Kanda's skin was cold and clammy but his forehead was hot and sweaty when Allen put a hand to it. He could tell that Kanda's fever would only get worse as the night lengthened, so while Kanda was still chilled and shivering, Allen brought him as close to the fire as possible and curled his own body around Kanda's for additional warmth. He braced his right arm around Kanda's lower back for support and rested Kanda's head against his shoulder as he huddled against him.

The guilt Allen had refused to feel previously was now washing over him full force. Even if Kanda was the most arrogant and obnoxious person Allen had ever met, he should have held his tongue instead of letting his emotions get the better of him and drive Kanda into such a dangerous situation. It was because he'd spoken without thinking that Kanda had gotten hurt. Although Mana had always insisted otherwise, Allen still couldn't rid himself of the guilt he carried over having put such a strain on his adoptive father, the first person who had ever shown him kindness and acceptance, because of his own malediction. If Kanda ever went the same way as Mana...

Allen shook his head determinedly. Kanda was nothing like Mana. He wasn't invincible, but he wasn't the type to die easily. He wouldn't die. Allen wouldn't let him.

As he'd predicted, Kanda's fever worsened. He became restless when Allen went from keeping him warm to keeping him cool, reaching out with his right hand blindly until Allen pressed Mugen into it. Kanda's fingers curled tightly around the hilt of the sword, which seemed to calm him for a while, and Allen watched over him anxiously until the storm cleared at last.

When morning came, Allen left Timcampi to guard Kanda, while he himself went out in search of food. Kanda hadn't woken yet, but he would need to eat in order to keep his strength up. Allen knew that all the rainfall would bring out insects in abundance, which in turn would lure the larger predators, making hunting that much easier even for a novice like him.

Allen was grateful for having been given the opportunity to witness Kanda's techniques over the past few days, but while catching his own prey had been relatively simple enough, killing it was not.

Even though Allen had berated Kanda for letting his head rule over his heart, he himself had to adopt the same approach. Taking one life to sustain another still seemed cruel, but letting his catch live would mean letting Kanda die, and Allen couldn't do that. He'd never been able to kill for himself, but it was for Kanda's sake...

"I'm sorry," Allen whispered to the rabbit as it struggled frantically. "Please don't hate me for this." And then he silenced its screams with the knife.

~~

The eighth day had almost passed when Kanda's fever broke. Allen had succeeded in getting him to take in small amounts of food and sips of water while he'd been ill, but when Kanda's eyes opened fully, they were clear as he turned his head and focused them on Allen.

"Kanda?" Allen said, hurrying over to him. "Are you all right? How do you feel? Are you hurting anywhere? Do you need anything?"

"I need you to stop being so noisy, idiot bean sprout," said Kanda, his voice low and scratchy from lack of use, but it was the most welcoming sound Allen could remember hearing in a long time, and he hunched over Kanda as his body began to shake.

"I'm glad," he said weakly, unable to stop the tears from running down his face. "I'm so glad. I was so worried."

Kanda watched him as he cried, his expression strangely neutral, and Allen continued to let the words spill forth.

"I'm sorry. This is all my fault. I never should have said any of those things to you before. I never should have let you get hurt like this. I really am sorry. You were right. I am naive and incompetent, but even so I -"

"Enough," Kanda interrupted. "Stop apologising already."

Allen nodded meekly. "I'm sorry." He rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand and sniffled loudly as Kanda took a better look at him.

"Your face is pale," Kanda noted, and Allen shrugged his shoulders.

"Of course. This is my natural skin colour."

"You're sweating."

"I am. It is a rather warm climate here."

Kanda's eyebrow twitched at Allen's evasiveness and got straight to the point by saying bluntly, "When was the last time you ate?"

"Ah... well... " Allen blustered, fiddling with his shirt sleeves. "That would be..."

"Just answer the question, damn it!"

"Since before you got sick," confessed Allen. "But don't worry. It's okay. I was able to catch enough food for you to eat, although I did cry a little the first time I killed one of those rabbits, not to mention I made a real mess of it and -"

"You fool!" barked Kanda, cutting off Allen's babbling. "What's the point in us *both* getting ill? Why did you look after me but not yourself?"

"Because your needs came before mine," said Allen as if the answer ought to have been obvious.

"Have you even slept while I've been out?"

"No, not really. I'm okay, though. Really."

But Allen wasn't okay. As a parasite-type Innocence user, his appetite far surpassed a normal human's. He needed the extra nutrition just to function normally, and although he hadn't been fighting akuma while they'd been stranded on the island for over a week now, he still needed the nourishment.

"You look like hell," Kanda said bluntly as he took in Allen's hollow cheeks, his dirty clothing and the way his hair was currently more grey than white, making him seem a good thirty or forty years older than he actually was.

"Look who's talking," Allen retorted, giving a final wounded sniffle. "You're not so good yourself."

"Well you smell."

"So do you. Komui-san failed to pack us any soap, in case you hadn't noticed. Not that I would have had time to use it even if he had, since I hardly left your side while you were sick."

There was an awkward pause and then Allen cleared his throat.

"Appearances aside, let's just call a truce. We're still a long way from the halfway mark, and the remaining month isn't going to go by any quicker. We'll cooperate while we're on the island and then go right back to hating each other when we're off it. Agreed?"

"Only if you pull your weight. You might as well forget it otherwise."

"I understand. We'll do this together or not at all."

They didn't shake hands on the agreement, but they trusted each other enough to stick to it all the same.

~~ 

By the tenth day, Kanda had made a complete recovery. Allen had begun to look better too, now that he was actually eating again, and Timcampi solved their next problem by finding a clear spring for them to bathe in. The sun was shining, and there was barely any sign that a storm had passed through recently. It made the water pleasantly warm when Allen dipped a foot inside to test it, and he offered to wash their clothing once they were finished cleaning their bodies. Kanda gave a grunt of acquiescence as they stripped off and entered the water, each of them taking opposite sides of the spring which left Timcampi to bob about on the water's surface. Allen watched in amusement as the golem used its wings to propel itself along before ducking himself under and giving his hair a much-needed soak.

"This feels great!" he exclaimed upon emerging, shaking his head and sending droplets of water splashing everywhere.

"Stop acting like a little kid," Kanda muttered from his side of the spring, as still and relaxed as if he happened to be at a luxury resort and not a deserted island.

"Only if you stop acting like an old man," Allen said cheekily, and Kanda's left eyebrow twitched.

"Old man?" he echoed dangerously, reaching for Mugen, and Allen held his hands up defensively.

"I'm joking, I'm joking," he assured. "Put the sword away now please."

The next few minutes were spent in blissful silence, at least until Kanda opened his eyes to see Allen staring intently at his chest. More accurately, he was staring at the tattoo there.

"What does that mean?" Allen asked curiously once he realised Kanda had picked up on his interested.

"None of your business," Kanda said flatly.

Allen mulled that over for a few seconds before suddenly coming out with, "Teach me how to read Japanese!"

"Why?" said Kanda irritably.

"Because there's nothing else to do?" shrugged Allen.

"I don't want to. It's too much of a pain."

"Go on, teach me how to read Japanese and I'll teach you how to cheat at cards."

"Why would I want to learn how to cheat at cards?"

"To make easy money? It's a very useful skill, I'll have you know. I've never passed on my secret techniques to anyone before, but I'll make an exception this time."

Kanda regarded Allen contemplatively and then smirked. "I don't think you could handle Japanese, bean sprout. Is your tiny brain actually capable of managing more than one language?"

"Of course it is!" Allen said indignantly, jumping to his feet and using the extra height to loom over Kanda in an effort to intimidate him, which had zero effect. "I've travelled all over the world, and I've picked up bits and pieces of many different languages, so there!" Then he blinked when Kanda's smirked widened. "Hey, what's so funny?"

"I see the curtains match the drapes," Kanda pointed out, raising an eyebrow at the way Allen had exposed himself, and Allen quickly sank back into the water with humiliation.

"S-so what if they do?" he stammered, blushing brightly. "Is that a problem? Stop laughing, Tim!" he added angrily at the golem as it bared its fangs in a very human-like grin. "It's not like you haven't seen this before. We take baths together all the time!" The colour drained out of Allen's face at the realisation he'd apparently come to, and he said in a shaky voice, "Wait, you have an inbuilt recording ability, right? Just what have you been filming over the years?"

Timcampi flicked its tail as if to say "it's a secret", flying out of the way when Allen tried to grab it and settling itself comfortably atop Kanda's head.

"You'd better not show Kanda anything embarrassing!" Allen warned.

"Timcampi can show me whatever it likes," Kanda said blandly. "If it wants to show me your past, that would be its own choice and not mine. If anything, it'll be a good way to pass the time."

"You can't!" wailed Allen. "Don't watch! Timcampi, you traitor! How dare you turn your back on your master!"

But neither Timcampi nor Kanda listened, leaving Allen unable to do anything other than mope in defeat.

~~

It took Allen a whole two days to forgive Timcampi, but he did find one method in which he could get his own back on the golem and use it to catch dinner at the same time.

Kanda, having seen Allen's initial failure at fishing, was somewhat surprised when he found him by the shore with a total of four fish inside the pot of water he'd set beside himself.

"Here comes another one!" shouted Allen when he got a bite, and it was only when he pulled his catch up that Kanda understood the secret to Allen's success.

"You're using Timcampi as bait?" he said as Allen plucked the golem from the mouth of his catch like a cork from a bottle.

"That's right," he replied cheerfully, dropping the fish inside the pot to meet its new companions. "Tim seems to get eaten a lot, so I thought he might look attractive to the fish if I tied him to the end of my rod. It's working very well. Just look at how many I've caught so far! Although, I'm not entirely sure what the most humane way to kill them would be..."

Kanda took care of it for him by kicking the pot onto its side and letting the water flow out. The fish flopped uselessly about until they ran out of energy and died.

"There," said Kanda. "Problem solved."

"How cruel," Allen said mournfully, bowing his head and clasping his hands together. "Farewell, souls of the dearly departed. May you rest in peace."

"Stop praying and just cook them already, idiot!"

~~

The halfway mark of their month soon dawned on the island and its two inhabitants as Allen propped himself in the shade and worked on stitching up the tears in Kanda's spare pants. He sounded oddly content as he hummed to himself, unaware of how Kanda watched him from the corner of his eye. Timcampi was nestled in the crook of Allen's left shoulder, swishing its tail from side to side in time with the beat of the song he was humming like a metronome, and as Kanda swiftly and efficiently skinned the two rabbits he'd caught that morning, he wondered how on earth he'd come to be in such a bizarrely domestic situation. By rights, he should have gone insane already with only Allen for company. Either that or he should have killed him by now, but Kanda was actually tolerating the cursed boy with his silly habits and his foolish outlook on life.

Although Kanda was loath to admit it, Allen did have a point. The only reason he got so ruffled and defensive in the first place because Kanda was always the one to start a fight between them. He would sneer at Allen or simply attack him outright and Allen would retaliate because he wasn't the spineless weakling Kanda had took him for on their first meeting and because he was more than capable of standing up for himself. After they'd exchanged hostility for civility, Kanda had felt somewhat out of his depth. He still needled Allen from time to time, mainly because provoking him had become second nature to Kanda before he'd even realised it, but he wasn't nearly as mean-spirited about it now as he had been in the past.

Just looking at Allen with his ridiculously happy little smile and the ridiculously lady-like manner in which he held the pinky finger on his right hand in the air daintily while he sewed (apparently one of the very few habits Allen had admitted to picking up from his master) made Kanda feel like sitting here with him like this was more normal than abnormal. Even Allen's ridiculous tuft of a ponytail didn't bother Kanda as much as it should have despite Allen having borrowed one of Kanda's own hair ties without waiting for permission first. He'd used the excuse that his hair had been growing again and that he had to tie it back because the heat would only make it stick uncomfortably to the nape of his neck otherwise, and besides, Kanda didn't need more than one tie at a time anyway, assuming he wasn't going to start wearing his hair in pigtails like Rinali. Kanda should have smacked him or at least sworn at him, but he hadn't, and the more Allen had started getting away with the bolder he grew.

Kanda hadn't missed the fact that their sleeping arrangements had subtly changed as of late either. Before, he and Allen had each taken one side of the cave and had never crossed the invisible line that lay in the middle between them, but Allen had recently begun to breach that line. Kanda never gave him permission to march into his territory, but Allen went ahead and invaded it regardless. Saying things like "get lost" or "mind your own business" or "shove off back to your own corner" didn't seem to work anymore, because Allen just ignored everything so he could ask Kanda the most mundane questions or get his opinion on the most pointless and trivial of matters. Even dissuading Allen by merely grunting at him instead of responding with human speech didn't seem to have any effect, as Allen seemed convinced he could interpret those grunts, like each and every one possessed its own different and unique meaning.

In short, it was annoying, but it wasn't annoyance the way Kanda had always experienced it. Maybe it was because he only had to deal with one moron rather than many could have explained it, or maybe it was because Kanda was too busy thinking up the most painful and excruciating ways in which he could kill Komui once he got back to the Order, but whatever the reason, it didn't alter the fact that he and Allen were at last doing what their supervisor had intended by working together and treating each other as fellow human beings rather than living, breathing punch bags.

It was strange but not unpleasant, this truce, and as Kanda got to his feet, Allen ceased his humming long enough to give him a "see you later" when he took off. It was something else he always did, to either bid Kanda a temporary goodbye whenever they split up for whatever reason, or to welcome him back. Kanda considered these greetings to be completely unnecessary but, like Allen himself, he'd come to grow used to them without even realising, so when he returned a couple of hours later, it felt strange for him not to hear Allen's voice upon his arrival.

It wasn't exactly a difficult mystery to unravel. Allen had only fallen asleep. Timcampi was curled up on his chest, rising and falling rhythmically with every breath he took. Kanda's pants were neatly folded by Allen's side, and he bent down to retrieve them, noticing that while the rest of Allen's body was properly covered by the shade, his feet were sticking out in the sun and looked to be painfully burned.

Sighing exasperatedly, Kanda gave Allen a sharp poke.

"Mmm, go 'way, Master," Allen mumbled, rolling over onto his stomach and crushing poor Timcampi in the process. "I don't want to chase any more lions."

Eyebrow twitching, Kanda changed tactics and kicked Allen in the ribs, waking him with a jolt. He sat up and smiled blearily, rubbing his eyes as he gave Kanda his customary "welcome back", but Kanda only kicked him again.

"Your feet are sunburned," he said pointedly, feeling a headache forming at Allen's "owowowow" yelps as he blew on his toes and whined to the flattened Timcampi about how mean the golem had been to let him fall asleep out in the sun.

As far as Kanda was concerned, at least one thing would never change. An idiot was still an idiot no matter how tolerable he became, and that was a strangely reassuring thought.

~~

On the eighteenth day, Allen, tired of his one-sided literary discussions with Kanda on how touching Little Women was and how Kanda should read it for himself before he could justify calling it a "stupid, girly book", made good on his earlier promise by teaching Kanda how to play cards. Or, as Kanda saw it, how *not* to play cards.

Because Allen was so insistent about it, and because Kanda had nothing better to do, he let Allen start with the basics such as how to shuffle and different rules for different games. Then he promptly set about teaching Kanda how to break those rules, and more importantly, how to do it without getting caught.

Kanda had heard from Lavi more than once about how Allen's 'dark side' tended to emerge whenever gambling was involved, and he also had to wonder what the nature of Cross was really like if he'd caused Allen to turn out like this, a ruthless and merciless creature of evil and the self-proclaimed champion of poker. He was like a two-faced demon as he dealt the cards with a truly angelic expression only to transform into a wicked and unforgiving monster as soon as he'd calculated his win.

Because Kanda hated to lose just as much as Allen did, he practised in private, usually while Allen was sleeping, and on the twenty-first day of their coming to the island, he triumphed over Allen with his own trademark finish, a royal straight flush. Allen seemed to be in a state of shock as he looked at his own cards and then Kanda's, and he demanded a rematch.

Five losses later, and Allen had gone from a state of shock to a state of near-catatonia.

"Where are you going?" asked Kanda when Allen got up to walk away.

"To drown myself," Allen said dully. "My own techniques have been turned against me. I've lost my title as a fraudster. There's no reason for me to keep living."

Kanda, rolling his eyes, put an end to Allen's melodrama by smacking him upside the head. "You've taught me your stupid card games so now I have to teach you Japanese, right? Stop sulking already and sit back down."

Allen pouted pathetically but did as he was told, his posture listless and uninterested as Kanda took a stick and sketched out characters into the dirt.

"I ro ha ni ho he to," said Kanda, pointing to each character in turn. "Repeat."

"I ro ha ni ho he to," Allen parroted obediently, before looking up at Kanda and adding, "What does that mean?"

"It's the basic of basics," sighed Kanda, sensing that this could be a very long lesson. "It's the beginning of a poem that'll help you learn to speak the language. Think of it as how brats in your country learn their ABC's and just memorise, damn it."

"You're a bad teacher," Allen said reproachfully. "Then again, I will admit that you're not nearly as bad as my master."

~~

On the twenty-second day, Kanda awoke to something of a shock. It was a shock that went by the name of Allen Walker, and it was sprawled all over him like a human blanket.

Kanda tensed automatically upon the discovery, although Allen was blissfully oblivious. He was face down on top of Kanda, his lower body wedged firmly between Kanda's thighs, all sleep-soft skin and heavy weight, but that wasn't the worst of it. The hollow of Kanda's throat was sticky with drool from where Allen's mouth had been, but worse still was the fact that Kanda was painfully and embarrassingly hard. Allen suddenly wriggled against him and mumbled something about hot cross buns, making Kanda grit his teeth in pure agony.

There was only one good thing about what would otherwise have been a completely horrendous and humiliating situation. Allen was still fast asleep, which meant that if Kanda was careful enough he could escape without waking him up. Besides, the blame lay entirely with Allen for not sticking to his own side of the cave like he should have and for not being able to stay still in his sleep like a normal person.

After counting from one to ten slowly inside his head and running through a few choice curse words for good measure, Kanda opened his eyes and was taken aback to see Timcampi barely half an inch away from his nose. Timcampi seemed to be staring at him intently, an impossible feat considering it didn't even have eyes to see with, but then golems weren't supposed to possess thought process, intelligence or personalities either, and yet Timcampi seemed to have them all.

"What's your problem?" snapped Kanda, paling when Timcampi flashed its fangs at him in a grin. No doubt Komui would witness everything that had taken place in his absence by using Timcampi's recording feature, and since Timcampi was virtually indestructible, even killing it ten times over wouldn't help.

Now in a seriously foul mood, Kanda forgot about trying to get away without Allen noticing, shifting under him and bringing a knee up hard into Allen's stomach. Allen woke instantly, coughing and sputtering at the sudden pain, but it served him right in Kanda's opinion as he seized the opportunity and fled.

After his coughing subsided, Allen sat up in bewilderment and stared in the direction in which Kanda had disappeared. Timcampi's lazy leer didn't offer any enlightenment and neither did the way Kanda avoided him for the rest of the day.

When Allen found Kanda, he was by the shore practising his sword swings, and Allen shuffled his feet before finding the courage to speak. "Are you all right?" he asked, uttering a tiny "eep" when Kanda glanced over his shoulder and gave him the darkest glare he could muster. "Dinner is ready if you want it..."

Kanda sheathed Mugen and stalked past Allen, glaring at him all the while. He glared at Allen while they ate and he glared at Allen when they turned in for the night. He gave him one last glare for good measure before turning his back and saying, "Stay on your own damn side this time or I'll kill you."

"Um, okay," said Allen, more confused than he had been already, and he bid Kanda good night.

It didn't take Allen long to fall asleep, but Kanda lay wide-awake and tried not to listen to his breathing and his mutterings. Kanda had learned from their first night on the island together that Allen tended to talk in his sleep, and while he'd never paid any heed to it before, now those little sighs and moans were impossible for him to ignore. They were getting on Kanda's nerves, but it was either leave the warmth of the cave and stumble around in the darkness outside to find shelter elsewhere or learn the ability to switch his hearing on and off at will so he could go conveniently deaf.

Cursing Komui for having the gall to put him through such an ordeal, Kanda tried to think about anything but Allen. He thought about what he would do when he got back to the Order, but thinking about the Order made him think about proper food and tempura soba. Tempura soba made him think about Jerry the head chef, and Jerry the head chef and his infamous soft spot for cute and formal young boys brought Kanda's thoughts full circle and led him right back to Allen.

It was all about Allen and his stupid smile and how he couldn't even pronounce the simplest sentence properly in Japanese, instead drawing out all the wrong syllables like a typical ignorant westerner and completely insulting Kanda's mother tongue. It was the way he always tried so hard, the way he gave Kanda the sort of kindness and consideration he would rather live without, the way he seemed to think that they were *friends*, God forbid. It was the way he cared, the way he laughed, the way he looked with the sun on his face and the wind in his hair. Kanda still found all of it annoying but not nearly annoying *enough* anymore, and that was what frustrated him most.

"Nooo..." Allen cried groggily from the other side of the cave. "Not the hammer..."

Kanda swore and pulled out the coat he'd been using as a makeshift pillow to cover his head, but it didn't block out the sounds of Allen's recurring nightmare about being beaten unconscious by General Cross Marian.

~~

Fate was definitely laughing at Kanda when the morning of the twenty-third day turned out to be a near-identical repeat of the morning of the twenty-second. Despite the threats he'd made the previous night Kanda woke to find Allen curled up against his side, only this time he was drooling on Kanda's shoulder and not his throat. Before Kanda could throw Allen off or kick him or sock him or do anything else that might otherwise relieve his anger, Allen raised his head, rubbed his eyes and muttered something about needing a drink of water.

Kanda clenched his teeth as Allen crawled over him, but what possessed his arm to reach out of its own accord and grab Allen's sleeve, Kanda didn't know. Allen, still only half-awake, paused at the hindrance and perched himself over Kanda's crotch. Kanda gave a sharp hiss at the unexpected contact, and even Allen wasn't so dense that he couldn't figure out just what he was sitting on.

"Kanda?" he said cautiously, but Kanda couldn't answer or bring himself to look at him. He expected Allen to recoil or at least hit him so it was a shock when Allen shifted his weight, slowly, experimentally, forcing a grudging groan past Kanda's lips.

Allen blinked once, twice, and then he repeated the movement, causing Kanda to inhale sharply at the sensation. Allen hesitated and then shifted again so he could straddle Kanda more comfortably, rolling his hips and giving a gasp of his own at how it felt.

Kanda's fingers twitched and he tried to tell Allen to stop and get the hell off but the words died on his tongue when Allen's palms braced themselves against his chest, giving him enough leverage to lift up briefly and then settle back down with a jerk of his hips. Kanda responded unintentionally with an upward thrust and Allen's eyes widened, his mouth parting in a tiny little "oh" of surprise.

That was when Kanda's hands decided to follow the example the rest of his body had set by moving on their own as they settled on Allen's thighs, squeezing them through the fabric of his pants and moving steadily back until he reached Allen's ass. He gave another thrust and pulled Allen forward simultaneously, grinding against him and making both of them moan, doing it again before Allen got the idea and rocked his hips to meet Kanda's.

Maybe Kanda had lost his mind somewhere along the way, or maybe he'd had too much sun and was just imagining Allen's panting and squirming and whimpering, but then Allen called his name, breathlessly, reverently, and Kanda lost interest in searching for logic and reason, as he decided insanity wasn't really so bad.

There was nothing else for Kanda to think about then, other than his own ragged breathing and the clumsy rhythm his body had pushed him and Allen into. His hands were still on Allen's ass, still kneading it, and Allen was still making the kind of noises Kanda should have found as ridiculous as everything else Allen did but instead made him respond by bucking harder underneath him to see what other noises he could make.

The building of pressure and the subsequent relieving of tension meant that it was the first time Kanda had come with and because of another human being. More sated and relaxed than he could ever recall feeling before, he merely grunted when Allen shuddered and sighed and then slumped over him wearily. Kanda didn't want his brain to ruin everything by starting to function again but then Allen laughed for no apparent reason, and he remembered that although he cared not for the opinions of other people, there did remain some things that were capable of evoking insecurity.

"What's so funny?" he snapped, trying not to sound like he was smarting over Allen finding amusement in their intimacy, awkward as it was.

"Just think about it," urged Allen. "You wouldn't even shake my hand when we first met and yet now we're doing something like this."

"It wasn't premeditated," said Kanda. "It was an unwitting accident."

Allen stopped laughing and propped himself up on Kanda's chest so he could stare at him in total seriousness. "Did you hate it?" Kanda didn't answer so Allen leaned in, paused, and then touched his lips to Kanda's. "Did you hate that too?" he asked.

"It's your turn to get breakfast, bean sprout," said Kanda, purposely evading the question, and Allen smiled.

"So it is," he agreed, kissing Kanda once more before getting off of him. "I'll wash up first and then I'll go fishing. I might even fetch some berries."

"You mean the ones you brought back last time that my stomach wrote off as poisonous, possibly radioactive?" Kanda said darkly.

"They're not so bad once you've built up some resistance to them," said Allen, much too cheerful for his own good.

Kanda turned his back and refused to respond when Allen shouted out a "see you later". He was too occupied with cursing Allen mentally for introducing him to an emotion other than anger and irritation, and for kissing him when he hadn't even brushed his teeth in a whole three weeks. Kanda hadn't brushed his either, but then he also hadn't been the one to start something that would change their fragile alliance into something he didn't want to contemplate. It was Allen's fault for making assumptions and for getting the wrong impression but still, Kanda couldn't hate him. It was difficult to work up hatred when he couldn't seem to get annoyed with Allen the way he once had done.

~~

When the month was up, Rinali and Lavi were the first people to greet Allen and Kanda when they appeared at headquarters, but before they could welcome them back, Kanda stormed past them in the direction of Komui's office while Allen ran so fast to the dining hall that he was little more than a blur of black and white. They found him at his usual table surrounded by dishes and he didn't even acknowledge them as Rinali took a seat on one side of him and Lavi took a seat on the other.

"Welcome home, Allen-kun," said Rinali, ducking Allen's flying elbows as he shovelled food into his mouth at an almost inhuman speed. "We were all concerned about you while you were gone, but it looks like we worried for nothing. You certainly seem energetic enough, although you *could* use a bath."

"Silly Rinali," teased Lavi as Allen went from devouring one portion of food to the other without even pausing to breath properly. "That's what real men smell like after they return to their natural habitat! It's a tough, manly scent that allows them to blend in with their surroundings!"

"I'm just grateful it was Allen-kun and Kanda Nii-san sent away and not me," Rinali confessed with a smile.

"Like Komui would ever send *you* to a deserted island. He won't even let you go out shopping on your own."

"Yes, it is a problem. Maybe I *should* grow more independent by learning how to get by in the wild?"

"And come back looking like Allen?"

"You do have a point..."

Allen carried on eating obliviously while Lavi and Rinali stopped talking long enough to watch him in a combination of horror and amusement, but he was the happiest they'd seen him in a long time when he set his final dish down and said, "Thank you for the meal," as he dabbed at his mouth with a napkin.

"That was a lot, even for you," said Lavi in awe. “Didn’t you get anything to eat on that island?”

"Not as much as I would have hoped," sighed Allen, patting his stomach.

"You do look like you've lost weight," observed Rinali. "Go straight to the medical department when you're finished here and get them to check your health, all right? Don't worry about giving your report to Nii-san. I'm sure that's what Kanda is doing right now."

"Kanda isn't giving his report," Allen said, matter-of-fact. "He swore he was going after Komui-san to kill him."

Rinali laughed weakly and Lavi poked Allen in the shoulder.

"Well, what was it like?" he asked. "Being stuck with Yuu for a whole month, I mean. Was it hell?"

Allen pondered that for a moment and then answered with, "More like purgatory, I think. It wasn't paradise, put it that way."

"But did you get along with him?" Rinali wanted to know, and Allen hurriedly vacated his seat.

"You're right, I should see the doctors," he said hastily. "We'll talk more later, okay?"

Rinali and Lavi stared after him in puzzlement as he left.

"What got into him?" wondered Lavi. "His face was pretty red."

"Sunburn?" guessed Rinali. "Poor Allen-kun. As if Kanda alone wasn't enough for him to deal with."

~~

Nighttime fell over the Black Order like a velvet veil, although Kanda was still smarting over his failure to eliminate Komui as he had sworn. Just when he'd cornered Komui and was about to slice his head off, Komui had whipped out a blow dart from his pocket and paralysed Kanda in his moment of carelessness, thus enabling him to escape and spend the rest of the day securely hidden in the depths of the basement.

Vowing to get revenge even if it cost him his life, Kanda sat down on his bed and plucked a very dejected Timcampi out of his shirt.

"You're staying like that until I bully someone from the science department into disabling your recording feature," he told the tied up golem and dropped it into the top drawer of his desk, locking it tightly.

A knock on the door caught Kanda's attention, but before he could bark out for whomever it was to go away, Allen peeked inside. "Have you seen Timcampi?" he asked worriedly.

"No," lied Kanda, hiding the key behind his back.

"That's strange," mused Allen. "I can't find him anywhere. I hope I didn't leave him behind on the island."

"Forget about that," said Kanda, narrowing his eyes. "Why are you here?"

"Ah," said Allen, fidgeting and turning pink. "Um, well, to be honest... it kind of feels strange to be on my own now. Can I stay for a while? I promise I won't do anything to make you angry. Thank you." He got all that out without waiting for Kanda's response and he closed the door behind him, unable to see Kanda's sour expression. "It's good to be home, wouldn't you say?" he added, walking over to the bed and taking his place next to Kanda. "It was so nice to take a hot water bath after going without them for so long. Rinali let me use some of her scented oils for the occasion."

"So that's why you smell so offensively feminine," said Kanda with a sniff.

"You don't like it?"

"I prefer your outdoors scent."

"There's just no pleasing you, is there?"

"Where you're concerned? No, there isn't. You're a permanently irksome bean sprout."

Allen simply smiled and looked around the room. His gaze landed on the hourglass containing the lotus flower, and Kanda waited for him to ask about it. Allen said nothing. He never did pry, not when it came to Kanda. He bothered and nagged and interfered, but he never pried. It was the single redeeming feature Kanda would admit to Allen possessing.

"So..." said Allen, folding his hands in his lap.

"So?" said Kanda, noting that Allen was still using one of his hair ties. He'd demand it back only *Allen* had been wearing it, and now he couldn't care less about having it returned. He'd have to make Allen buy him a new one instead.

"Sooo..." said Allen, drumming his fingers.

"*So*?" said Kanda, impatient.

The sound of silence had never been this painful before, but Allen appeared to have reached whatever conclusion he'd been mulling over by closing his eyes and resting his head on Kanda's shoulder. Kanda tensed up and tried to growl at Allen not to lean on him, but Allen wasn't hurting anything even if he was being a brazen little brat. His hair was clean and fluffy and smelled sickeningly of violets or lilies or rose petals or whatever else had fragranced the substance he'd washed it in and his whole body seemed to be saying "I trust you", not that Kanda could recall asking for that trust.

"You just keep pissing me off," he muttered, feeling rather than seeing Allen's smile.

"Because I'm permanently irksome, right?" Allen prompted.

It was more than that. Allen Walker was everything Kanda Yuu had never wanted and yet now he was stuck with him, whether he liked it or not. Allen's existence was as inerasable as the curse scar on his face, meaning that Kanda couldn't ignore it or deny it. Accepting it would probably be the simpler option, but Kanda never gave in to anything without a fight. Life with Allen was far from easy, but it was also far from dull.

Even a bean had its uses, or so the saying went.

 

End.


End file.
